Handcuff.



"a handcuif which'riay beT more quickly and UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

LOUIS E. MALTEY, OF vWrrrERBUEY, CONNECTICUT, AssIGNOR `OF ONE- THIRD To FRANCIS T. OWENS, OE WATERBURY, CONNECTICUT.

HAN-ocu-FF'.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letter Patent No.-ese, e2e, ma November 1e, 1901. Applicant enum 12,1901. sgi-xsi It 64.278. ou man.)

To aZZ whom, it may concern,.- Be it known thatI, LOUIS' F. MAL'IBLa citizen of the United States, and a.resident of Waterbury, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, haveinvented cerprisoner to another.

' It is the object of my Invention to improve upon devices of the above class) by providing effectively used and with less exertion than those now on .the market; further, to provide a handcuff which isstrong, durable, and difficult to remove without the employment of a proper key.

With the above objects in view In y inven tion resides, and'` consists in the novel con-- struction and combination of parts `shown upon the accompanying'sheet of drawings, forming a part ofl this specification, upon -which similar characters of reference denote like or corresponding parts throughout the several views, and of which-'- Figure 1y shows a pair of-handcuffsconfstruc-ted in accordance with my invention, one of the pair being illustrated in side elevation, while the other is shown in sectional elevation. Fig. 2 is a.sectional elevation similar to the sectional view shown in Fig. l,

the parts, however, being i-n an unlocked po'.- sition. Fig. 3 is asimilar sectional view.v with the arm in an open position and brokenl away,

the armand other operative parts of the device being/in what I will term a set posi-k -tion,"ready toQbe tripped to throw the arm closed. Fig. is a. longitudinal vertical section taken on line 4'4 of Fig. 1,th'eposition of the parts agreeing with said figure. Fig. 5 is a detail perspective view of the rotary key-cylinder which appears in end'. and side view in the other figures.

As will `later he more l y invention is substantially automatic, in its Ithe following isa specificathe user.

fully describen, 'Ifny 1operation., being designed tao-close upon the 5o wrist ofthe wearer when thrust thereagainst and adapted to'close up more or less in accordance with the size of said wrist and firmlylock when so closed. In order to remove the device from thepwrist, a-special key is'. em- 55 'ployed, which has to be inserted in its socket and given a half-turn, whereupon the arm of the device becomes free to beopened,per mitting the removalof the handcuyif.,

Referring in detail to the characters of ref- 6o erence marked upon the drawings, A indicates a casing in which are inclosed the operative parts of my handcuff. This casing is of a partial semicircular shape, having a conl cave and convex side surface. A circular arm B is pivoted to the upper end of the casing and, together with said casing, forms substantiallyanadj ustable link. The curvature -of the outer endl of said arm is struck on its pivotal point C, while the inner portion is 7o drawn in and backward to afford a fullness, as will ybe apparent from the drawings. The arm in question is pivoted to a stud C of the casing (see Fig. 4) and is provided with a pocket in its upper side, in which is seated a Viiat spiral spring D, one end of which is seal specialperipheral pocket H in the exterior surface'of the hub of the arm.,v A spring I is secured to the stud J within the casing andA engages the contact-lever in a manner to force it outward, causingi'its shoulder G to drop into the pocket H of the arm, while the latgo ter is drawn open suiciently to retain it insaid pocket until intentionally withdrawn by The vinner faceA of the arm B is provided with a double series of shouldered recesses K, into which the teeth of a pairvof lockingpawlsL L are fcrced by the action of their springs M, 'as will be apparent from the'v sectional views of the drawings.v The tendency of these springs is to throw the pawls ontward into the line of travel of the arm and lfor. engagement with the'recesses therein whenA closed.l These pawls are l*independently forced forward by their springs, but are drawn-back by the pitman N, which is located therebetween and connected therewith by means of a small transverse pin O, operating in a slot of said pawls, the opposite end of said pitman being linked to a pin of the key-cylinder P, which serves to draw the pawls backward when unlocked and turned to the position shown in' Fig. 2. A l

The key-cylinder referred to comprises a central hub, the front end Q of which isl of a slightly-greater diameter than the rear and contains two peripheral flanges R andalougitudinal key-slot. This member of the locking mechanism is rotatably mounted in the casing A and is adapted to be turned by the purpose of these is to engage one anotherv when the cylinder is in its normal position and serve to limit the movement of the cylinder against the action of its spring, so as to insure the registration of the key-slot in the cylinder with the corresponding slot in lthe pin c.

the casing.

To the stud J is'pivoted a locking-dog U, the inner end of which is provided with' a notch to engage transverse pins c and din the flanges R ofthe cylinder, so as to retain said cylinder in either the lockedor unlocked position,as shown in Figs. 1 and 2, respectively. The opposite end of this dog is engaged by a spring W, which is secured to a stud X and acts to hold the do'gin a locked position. In the above connection it will be noticed that the notched edge of this :lockingdog is in the path of the key-slot of 'the cylinder when the parts are in their locked sition,(see Fig. 1,) and therefore it will be apparent that with the insertion of ,a tapering-edged key, such as is shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4, the inclined Aportion of said key would engage and force the edge of the dog outward against the resistance of its spring, thus withdrawing thefnotch from over The cylinders can then be turned substantially a half of a rotation or until the second pin din the flanges comes around and engages the notch in the locking-dog which holds it in osition.

A pawl is pivoted to the stud X and has a pin el extending upward to be engaged by' the edge oi? the rear end of the dog U', so as to be operated thereby. It will also be apparent that the spring W serves to retain boththe dog U and tumbler Y in their normal 7o or locked positions. The operative or engaging end of this tumbler Y in practice rides idly in the recess Z oi.' the hub of the arm B when said arm is in other than a set position. Said y tumbler is only forced from said recess with the engagement of the shoulder f see Fig. 3)

by the extreme outward movement. Thiswithdrawal of the tumbler Y serves to move the locking-pawl, drawing it from the pin d, allowing the cylinder to return to its normal 8o position against the stop a.

In practice two of these handen fis are joined together substantially as shown in Fig. ,1, whereina swivel T is pivoted to the casing ot each handout! and one or more links-T are interposed therebetween. It will be obvious, of course, that should one desire to use the instrument as a nippel' any suitable handle could be connected tothe casing instead of the swivel and links.

With the above deseri ltion of the mechanism I will next briey escribe the method of operating my invention, which is as follows: Assuming that the device is in a locked position, as shown in sectional view in Fi 1 and 4, the key would be inserted in the s ot of the cylinder, whereupon the inclined-surfaced edge ot the key would engage the opv erative, ond of the lockin-g-pawl, shoving it' y outward against the resistance of its spring, x'oo after which the cylinder is free to be turned by the key substantially half a rotation or-to the position shown in Fig. 2. As the key is turned and moves away from the spring-actuated locking-dog the same drops back toits normal position, and when the cylinder is turned around in its unlocked position, as shown in Fig. 2, the transverse pin d of said cylinder engages thesame notch of the locking-pawl and is retained by such engagement until the pawl is withdrawn. With the parts in this position the arm B is free to be drawn A back against the resistance of this spring to. the position shown 'in Fig. 3. Just prior toy the arm reaching its extreme outward position (shown in Fig. 3) the shoulder fof the peripheral recess before mentioned will en gage the tumbler Y and force Vit outward against the reduced end of the locking-dog in a manner to slightly withdraw the engaging edge from the pin c, thereby releasing the cylinder and allowing its spring S to throw it to itsnormal position.' (Shownin Fig. 1.4) When the arm reaches the open position, (shown vin Fig. 3,) the lug G of the vcontact-lever E is free to drop into the recess H of the hub of the arm in a manner to hold it o n against the action of the spring until suc time as it is released by the tripping of its contact-lever. This tripping is accomplished by the ap- 13o plioation of the main portion of the handcud against the wrist of the ,person upon whom it able casing, of a spring-actuated arm hinged thereto, means for holding the arm in an extended position, a trigger pivoted to the casing for releasing said arm, a key-cylinder with link connections for looking said arm, and a locking-dog for said cylinder and in line with its key-socket.

` 2. In ahandcu of the class described, the combination with the casing, of an arm hinged thereto, means for holding said arm in an open position, comprising a trigger pivoted to the casing and adapted to release said arm, means for throwing the arm shut with its releasement, mechanism for locking said arm, a spring-actuated keycylinder, a key-cylinder locking-dog in line with the key-socket of said cylinder and adapted to be released by the insertion of the key.

3. The combination in a handcuft, of a suitable casing, an arm hinged thereto, means for normally holding it closed, mechanism for retaining it in an open position,a contact-trigger exterior of, but pivoted to the casing adapted to engage the wrist of the wearer in a manner to release the arm and permitit to close around the said wrist, means for locking said arm in its closed position, a spring-actuated key-cylinder and link connections with the locking means for releasing said arm.

4. The combination in a handcu, of a casing, a spring-actuated arm pivoted to said casing and adapted to close into the same, means for automatically locking said arm in its closed position, a rotatable spring-actuated key-cylinder and link connections from said cylinder to said locking mechanism whereby the latter is'released.

5. The combination in a handcutt, of a suitable casing, an arm pivoted thereto. with means for normally throwing it shut, a pawl adapted to engage and lock said arm in its closed position, a rotary spring-actuated keycylinder journaled within'the casing, linksl connecting said cylinder and locking-,pawls whereby the latter may be released by a movement of the cylinder, to permit the withdrawal of the arm.

6. The combination in a handcuft of the class described, of a suitable casing, an arm hinged thereto, means to engage said arm and lock it in its closed position, a springact uated key cylinder journaled within the casing, links connecting the cylinder and lockingn pawls whereby the latter are lifted out of engagement with the arm to permit the withdrawal.

7. The combination in ahandcuff, of a suitable casing, an arm pivoted therein adapted to close around the wristof a person, a pawl for locking said arm in its closed position, a-

spring-actuated key-cylinder within the cas- 1ng and connections between said cylinder` and said pawl whereby the latter is operated from the'former, a dog to lock said cylinder against rotary movement when the key is withdrawn.

8. The combination in a handc'u, of a casing, an arm pivoted thereto adapted to close around the wrist of a person, means for locking. said arm closed, a spring-actuated key.

cylinder journaled within said casing, connections with and for operating said locking mechanism, a dog pivoted in thecasing and adapted to engage the cylinder and hold it against rotary movement when the key is withdrawn and also for holding said cylinder in an unlocked position substantially as described.

9. The combination in a-handcu, ofasuitable casing having an arm pivoted thereto adapted to close around the wrist of the wearer, a contact-leverfor engaging and hold ing the arm open, mechanism for locking the l arm when closed, a rotary spring-actuated key-cylinder journaledin the casing, connected with and for operating said locking mechanism, a dog for holding the keycylinder in either a locked or unlocked position, connections between the dog and a shoulder on the hub of the arm whereby the keycylinder is released and permitted to return to its normal position when the arm is extended and set.

10. The combination in ahandcutf, of asuitable casing and an arm pivoted thereto adapted to close around the wrist of aperson, a key cylinder journaled in said casing, locking mechanism connected with and operated by said key-cylinder, a dog for locking the cyl inder in position the same being in the path of the key-opening so as to release the cylinder by the insertion of the key, connections between said dog and the arm 'suchas a tumbler, and a shoulder upon the arm whereby the dog is operated by the movement of the arm to release the cylinder from engagement with the dog substantially as shown and de scribed.

l1. The combination in a handcu E, of a casing, an arm pivoted in one end thereof, adapted to close through the opposite end, a springactuated contact-lever adapted to hold the arm in an open position, means for throwing the arm closed with the releasement of the contact-lever, a key-cylinder journaled within the casing, locking mechanism for the arm, connected with and operated by the cylinder, a dog for normally holding the cylinder in either a Vlocked or unlocked position, a tumbler interposed between said arm and the dog whereby the latter is disengaged from the cylinder to permit it to automatically return toits normal position. o

12. The combination in a handcuii, of a casing, a spring-actuated keycylinder j ournaled therein, a dog for locking the cylinder in its IOO IIO

normal position, a tumbler pivoted in the cascylinder for retaining the arm in its closed pox ing and engaging the dog, an arm pivoted to sition. the casing, adapted to encircle the Wrist of Signed at Waterbury, in the county of New the wearer, a pocket Within the arm to re- Haven and State of Connecticut, this 22d day 5 ceive the tumbler when the arm is in aclosed of May, A. D. 1901. 2

position, a shoulder of said pocket to engage LOUIS F. MALTBY. L the tumbler when the arm is open in a man- Witnesses:

K Y f 11er to operate the dog and release the cylinder GEORGE FRITZ, and locking mechanism connected with the ERNEST W. HALE. 

